highbourne group

Highbourne Group appoints Liz Forte as Chief Marketing Officer

Highbourne Group, one of the UK’s leading plumbing and heating merchants and owner of brands such as City Plumbing, Plumbworld and PTS, has appointed a new Chief Marketing Officer. Liz Forte, an award-winning marketing director with over 20 years’ experience working for some of Europe’s best-loved brands such as Starbucks

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City Plumbing announces new contract with British Gas

City Plumbing, part of the newly formed Highbourne Group, is pleased to announce a continuation of its relationship with the UK’s largest energy and home services provider British Gas. The specialist heating and plumbing merchant has signed a multi-year contract to supply British Gas with boilers and parts to support

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BDC 321 : Oct 2024

highbourne group

Robbie Bell returns to heating and plumbing sector as new CFO of Highbourne Group

Robbie Bell returns to heating and plumbing sector as new CFO of Highbourne Group

Highbourne Group has appointed Robbie Bell, who spent almost 10 years in a similar role at Screwfix earlier in his career, as its new CFO. Robbie replaces Interim CFO Harvey Ainley and begins work immediately for the UK leader in the plumbing, heating and renewable energy market. Highbourne’s brand portfolio includes some of the biggest names in the sector, including City Plumbing, The Bathroom Showroom, PTS, DHS, The Underfloor Heating Store, Plumbworld and PlumbNation. CEO Dave Evans said: “We are delighted to welcome Robbie Bell to our Senior Leadership Team. We believe he is the perfect appointment as we look to lead industry change and continue to grow our business. Those are things that require an experienced CFO capable of making a big impact, and Robbie brings this.” Robbie joins from Holland & Barrett, where he was also CFO, having held similar roles at Welcome Break and a number of large retailers. During his time at Screwfix, he saw trade counters grow from 50 to 600, overseeing sales growth of over £1bn.  He said: “It’s an exciting time to be re-joining the sector and I’m looking forward to supporting Highbourne in their strategic ambitions. “I have already been impressed by Highbourne’s business plans and by CEO Dave Evans, HIG Capital and the Senior Leadership Team.”

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Highbourne Group appoints Liz Forte as Chief Marketing Officer

Highbourne Group, one of the UK’s leading plumbing and heating merchants and owner of brands such as City Plumbing, Plumbworld and PTS, has appointed a new Chief Marketing Officer. Liz Forte, an award-winning marketing director with over 20 years’ experience working for some of Europe’s best-loved brands such as Starbucks and Sony, joins the business starting on 8th August from the world’s largest food contract company, Compass Group. Liz is now responsible for developing and overseeing the marketing and brand strategy of Highbourne Group to support commercial performance and raise visibility amongst new and existing customers, ultimately driving business growth. At the core of this senior role is leading and managing a large multi-disciplined team to market plumbing and heating products to our large installer base, major contract customers through a range of marketing tools available to us. This helps to make our customer journey easier for them to work with us on a daily basis. John Vaughan, Chief Customer Officer of Highbourne Group, said: “We are excited and delighted to appoint Liz, who has built her career on understanding business objectives and translating them into powerful and innovative marketing strategies, as our new chief marketing officer.” “Liz has a wealth of experience and specialises in growth transformation projects, demonstrated most recently in her previous role where she generated impressive figures for new business, despite challenges associated with the pandemic. “We are looking to unlock the next phase of Highbourne Group’s development and need a strong, insight-led, customer-focused strategic marketing leader. Liz is a perfect fit for this role, and we see her as a significant investment in our company’s future. Liz will report directly into myself and join the Highbourne SLT board.” Liz, who won the Contract Catering Marketing Award in 2022 for her work with Compass and has a history of consulting for private equity firms, takes pride in forging new marketing initiatives underpinned with a data-driven and evidence-based approach. She added: “This new role is a tremendous opportunity, and I am looking forward to being part of the team that will help shape the future and upwards trajectory of Highbourne Group. “I plan to use my expertise to enhance the trading brands of the company, building tangible relationships with its customers and driving sustainable business growth through innovative marketing techniques. “My new colleagues have given me a warm welcome and I already feel part of the Highbourne family.” For more information, please visit www.highbournegroup.co.uk Highbourne Group Limited, through its brands City Plumbing, The Bathroom Showroom, PTS, Plumbworld, The Underfloor Heating Store, Plumbnation, DHS and NSS is one of the largest merchants operating in the UK’s plumbing and heating sector. It sells and distributes plumbing and heating products to installers all the way through to major corporate customers and housebuilders. The group’s team of 3,500 colleagues operates from more than 600 branches and sites around the UK. Highbourne Group’s employees are experts and dedicated to delivering a fantastic service to its customers. Their mission is to supply the highest quality materials in the UK. The company’s business revolves around supporting our customers and exceeding their expectations, from providing first class service to sourcing our products and materials as sustainably as possible.

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City Plumbing announces new contract with British Gas

City Plumbing, part of the newly formed Highbourne Group, is pleased to announce a continuation of its relationship with the UK’s largest energy and home services provider British Gas. The specialist heating and plumbing merchant has signed a multi-year contract to supply British Gas with boilers and parts to support complete installations, annual services, repairs and maintenance for thousands of homes across the UK. Covering British Gas customers for boilers and central heating as well as plumbing, drainage and electrics too. The new contract will see City Plumbing and British Gas work together to use digital innovations to streamline processes, enhance customer experience and deliver products to British Gas’s customers when they need them. Dave Evans, CEO of Highbourne Group said: “I am delighted to announce the continuation of the long established relationship between City Plumbing / PTS and British Gas. Over the last 10 years, our business has evolved to deliver great customer service to British Gas customers, and I look forward to working with the British Gas team in the future as we develop digital solutions to enhance both their customer and their engineers experience” For more information about City Plumbing supplies and the services it offers, visit: www.cityplumbing.co.uk

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